Tuesday, 30 January 2024

Grapevine Arch - is now (sort of) up again !

 

                              

                            So I really worked hard on this again today  .



It is extremely heavy , but I was determined to get the arch back up . If it fell down completely , it could snap the vine .  


I found a big rock to help hold it up . I'd love to have a much bigger frame for my Grapevine , but this will have to do for a bit longer . 

                                       Yesterday 
                                       Today 

Tomorrow - I'm feeling a bit sore now , but , I will try and make a start on moving all those wood-chippings . 
                                                       πŸŒΏπŸŒΏπŸŒΏ
                                                                       


Monday, 29 January 2024

The Grapevine Arch - is falling down .


 So after the tree surgeons had finished coppicing the hedgerow , we requested that they could leave the wood-chippings here that I could make good use of around the garden . I moved a ton of it down into the Fern Garden and put a nice winter mulch of it over the Dahlias . Then I got sick and last year I hardly  did anything .

I had no energy to shift any more of this stuff .....so you know what happens ....


                                          .......groan !


No more procrastinating . On with my gardening gear and wellies , armed with big garden fork , shears, loppers rake and thick garden gloves  . I got stuck in !

                     The grape-vine arch was blown over during the recent Storm Isha .

 Mile long brambles rooting down everywhere they touched the earth and Ivy , damned Ivy sneaking in everywhere it can and I'm having to be really careful not to damage the Grape-vine , but I am having to cut it back very hard this time , to be able to get the wooden arch back in place .


At least all this undergrowth has kept the base of the frame dry and it doesn't look too rotten at the bottom .


I like to complete any job that I start , so it kills me to have to say that I will come back to it and finish it later ...but after two hours of tugging up Brambles and Ivy roots and lopping and pulling mile long lengths of the damned prickly stuff .....my headaches ..my back aches and I need to stop .


Not sure if I will get back to it today .I'm really aching , need to do a dance work out cool down to ease out these achy muscles . Have lunch and lots of cups of tea and see how I feel later on . 

Meanwhile on the other side of the garden ......



                                      Isn't she lovely ? !


                                         Spring is on her way !


And on my bedroom windowsill I can see , that finally , all my Sweet Peppers have germinated .

                                 Sweet Peppers - Corno di toro rosso 🌢️

Eleven of them , very happy me . I need to get on and sow my Tomato seeds next !


Just had lunch and two cups of tea . 

Nope .I  don't think I'll be gardening again this afternoon . I'm going to light the fire . Pamper myself and treat my sore hands to some of the lovely new hand-cream that my daughter gave me for Christmas , spend the rest of the day drinking tea and doing my embroidery .

                                                       πŸŒΏπŸ•Š️🌿


Friday, 26 January 2024

🌿Postman's Been ! 🌿


                                         πŸ₯³πŸŽ‰     Hooray  !  πŸŽ‰πŸ₯³


          It's the new fern for my Secret Fern Garden . Beautifully and safely packed .


                 It's a gorgeous one ....Dryopteris Jurassic Gold  . 


   I quickly re-potted it and I'll keep it in the porch for a few days so I can enjoy it . 
     You know me.....talk to it , dance and sing . Oh ! I am so pleased with it ! 


                It's a nice healthy looking plant from willowbridgeplants on ebay uk . 

        I'll give it some time to settle in before I plant it out into the Fern Garden .

                                 πŸŒΏπŸŒΏ Very happy me ! 🌿🌿

                                                         πŸŒΏπŸ•Š️🌿

Wednesday, 24 January 2024

🌳🌳My little Woodland - very long update πŸ¦”πŸ¦ŠπŸ¦‰πŸΏ️🦑🌳

 

I only went out to see if my husband wanted a cup of coffee . I had pulled on my wellies but wearing a skirt , not really dressed for doing any gardening .


Storm Isha had brought down a large bough from the Eucalyptus tree  . Fortunately nothing else was damaged . Behind that green seat and actually beyond that green bush the fence was already coming down from the previous storm . 

I'll just climb in and show you .....


......hang on ......


There you go .....oops...a cat just ran past me ...I wonder where that's come from . Everyone round here has dogs !


Climbing back out ..so this is where we recently had some Griselinia bushes cut back . They had  grown way too tall and had become leggy at the bottom.     Cutting them hard back will make them bush out lower down to give the young tree saplings in my mini woodland area and my vegetable garden shelter from the North and the East winds .They are already beginning to bush out again from the bottom . 

I was told to fill in with some more young Griselinia plants . Some of the new plants have really suffered in the bitterly cold recent weather . I hope they'll be o.k. 

I need to fix up some windbreak mesh .

 I have planted lots of young saplings over there and you can hardly see them at the moment .

I still have more to plant out . Nothing makes me feel happier than seeing my young trees beginning to grow away . 


There's a row of Griselinias at the back and the young saplings are dotted about in front . There are so many weeds and they are all growing through weed-membrane and an old carpet ! 

I have so much to do over there , it is almost over whelming me ..... but only almost . 


I climbed back in again with my large garden fork and prized out all the Thistles .


Big ones and little ones , every single one of them and tossed them onto the bonfire heap .


So here we have the next problem  . We need to clear out this area which was the old compost heap ...there is chicken wire buried around the back to get out  . We can't burn it here because there is a fir tree which would almost certainly catch alight and then could spread all along the boundary of other bushes .

  There could also be hedgehogs in there . πŸ¦”πŸ¦”πŸ¦”

So I brought over Rosie (the large pink wheelbarrow ) with a view to wheeling it over to the other burning zone .


I made a couple of fire starters out of some of the dried leaves and Eucalyptus bark that had blown down during the storm .



I'd like to take down the fir tree and plant some lower growing bushes there , which in turn would show off the beautiful Alder Tree which has a lovely shape and the prettiest tiny seed cones and catkins .

The old compost heap will then become , a great South facing place to grow some really exotic things .

I'm going to make a pathway through the mini woodland/forest area  so that I can tend to them while they are small also to trim the newly developing hedge behind them . 

Also I can plant out the other three Ginkgo Bilobas and the young Monkey Puzzle tree . It will really will be great to see them all growing . I'm bursting with excitement for my little woodland ! 🌳🌲🌳

A great shelter and corridor for wildlife , nesting birds etc . 

This will give my neighbours their privacy . We have great neighbours by the way . We will tackle the falling downy fence after all the Winter storms have finished . No worries about that . We need to plant more shrubs in front and behind the fence to help buffet the wind .

I must put some sort of a fence around a young Liquid Amber tree that I planted a couple of years ago , It is quite close to the falling downy fence and I don't want anyone stomping on it .  The Liquid Amber tree will eventually take the place of the magnificent focal point that is our huge Pine tree at the present time .

πŸ¦‰πŸŒ³πŸΏ️🐿️πŸ¦ŠπŸ¦‘πŸ¦‘πŸŒ³πŸ¦‰πŸ¦”πŸ¦ŠπŸ¦ŠπŸ¦‘πŸ¦‘πŸ¦‰

There are plans to take it down or maybe just take the top off it , so our Owls , Ravens , Squirrels and Woodpeckers can still nest there . It also has a Kiftsgate rose and a sweet wild Honeysuckle growing through it at present . πŸ¦‰ I'd love an Owl nesting box to be put up there ! πŸ¦‰

Anyway .....

 So , I want the hedge to be no higher than I can easily reach  .


Oh gawd ! It looks such a mess at the moment !  I will do a bit more tomorrow . Maybe a burning !

The overwhelmed husband called me in for a cup of tea !  

Don't worry ..he'll be in his element making a bonfire tomorrow  🀣lol !


So what else is new ?


The fields around Cornwall are golden with Yellow Daffodils . A beautiful sight to see !


We drove over to Godolphin for a stroll around the Elizabethan Gardens  and a cup of tea in the National Trust Cafe .


We didn't go in the house , but just enjoyed a nice nature walk . 


                                     Said hello to the Robin .



                                                  Then home !

                    You want more ? 

                                              O.k . 


I took the propagator lid off to have a peek inside and .....Oh my heart ! ...we have a new baby ! 

One of my Sweet Peppers Corno di Toro Rosso has germinated ! I am so happy !

And ...come with me into the bathroom ......


             That Orchid has been blooming since August ! 


                                   The flowers last for ages .


Look at the ariel roots on my other Orchid , climbing down the wall . I think it has a flower shoot coming . 


The Air Plant also has a couple of flower spikes coming up  . I can't remember the name of this Air Plant sorry ! I do love them . I love them all ! 

Those are Epiphyllum cuttings at the back  .  Everybody happy ! 


                                            A bit of bedtime reading .


                                        Nighty night . God Bless x



Thursday, 18 January 2024

More from the Frosty Morning Labyrinth ❄️


 


    
                                                      😎